Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
 
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Freshman wide receiver Alex Tonnies (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) tied his own school-record with 17 receptions on Saturday as the Kutztown University football team kept its fans on their feet throughout a 31-12 loss to 13th-ranked Bloomsburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at University Field.
 
The Golden Bears (0-3, 0-1 PSAC East) competed from start to finish against the undefeated Huskies (3-0, 1-0). They kept it a one possession game for nearly three quarters of play until Bloomsburg rattled off 21 of the final 28 points.
 
"Our defense gave us an opportunity to win today," head coach Drew Folmar said. "They played extremely hard and were a tackle or two away from really shifting the momentum of the game back in our favor. As a team, we need to improve on not giving our opponents great field position so we can put our defense in a better position to succeed."
 
Tonnies' 17 catches tied the school-record he set in the opening week of the season. He was one of two Kutztown receivers with more than 100 receiving yards as the true freshman hauled in 122, one shy of his season-high set at Clarion. Junior Kodi Reed (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) hauled in 118 yards through the air including a seven-yard touchdown catch on Kutztown's second drive of the game.
 
Freshman quarterback Alec Werner (Harrisburg, PA/Bishop McDevitt) completed 41 passes, four shy of tying the school-record, for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Werner stood strong in the pocket all afternoon, despite getting sacked five times including four by Bloomsburg all-region defensive end Larry Webster. He walked away with some battle scars, but the freshman quarterback continued to show his willingness to get back up and keep fighting for the Golden Bears.
 
"There certainly is a comfort level building between those two," Folmar said of the chemistry building between Werner and Tonnies. "In no way are we focusing to get any one of our receivers more touches than another, but Alex has done a great job of exposing some holes the defense gives us and take advantage of it."
 
Defensively, senior Alex DiNolfi (Norristown, PA/Norristown) was aggressive from his safety position and constantly found himself in the box tackling Husky running backs. He tallied 13 tackles to tie his career-high set in 2011 against Shippensburg.
 
Junior English Peay (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) and Sam Dixon-Dougan each had 10 tackles for Kutztown. Peay notched Kutztown's first interception of the season, coming down with the ball on a diving attempt as the Huskies went deep towards the end zone.
 
For the Huskies, senior running back Franklyn Quiteh ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns. The PSAC's all-time leading rusher was limited for most of the game as runs of 30, 65, and 28 yards accounted for 123 of his 170 yards. Taking away the three game-changing runs, Quiteh ran for 47 yards on 20 carries.
 
The Golden Bears ran 18 more plays than the Huskies, but were on the lesser side on total yardage (372-348). Kutztown's defense held Bloomsburg to 239 rushing yards, nearly 200 yards less than its season average. Bloomsburg entered the game as the top rushing team in the nation at more than 420 yards per game.
 
Kutztown took an early 6-0 lead following a Bloomsburg fumbled punt that gave Kutztown back the ball at the Bloomsburg 38-yard line. Werner and Reed converted on a fourth down to keep the drive alive as the duo hooked up again on third-and-goal with a seven-yard touchdown pass down the middle. KU missed the extra point to hold the early lead after holding the ball for the opening 7:30 of the game.
 
Bloomsburg responded with a 21-yard field goal by Danny Fisher to cap a drive that started with great field position at its own 38-yard line. The field goal was a significant one for Fisher, who broke the PSAC career field goals record with the kick.
 
Late in the first half, Bloomsburg capitalized on a drive starting in Kutztown territory. Starting on a second-and-21, Dai'Shon Munger ran for 14 yards to the outside, quarterback Tim Kelly found Aaron Allison for 21 yards, and Quiteh punched in his first touchdown of the day from 10 yards out as the three plays made up nearly all of the Bloomsburg yardage on the drive to give it a 10-6 lead late in the first half.
 
Kutztown drove down to the 6-yard line of the Huskies with 10 seconds to play in the half, but a holding penalty followed by a missed 33-yard field goal attempt gave the Huskies a 10-6 halftime lead.
 
The second half was closely contested, but Bloomsburg's ability to turn in big plays ultimately made the difference. On third-and-15, it struck for a 34-yard touchdown pass up the middle to stretch its lead to 17-6 late in the third quarter. On Bloomsburg's next drive early in the fourth, it faced a third-and-three from its own 9-yard line. Quiteh took the handoff, was hit immediately in the backfield, but the All-American tailback broke numerous tackles and busted out a 65-yard run down the sideline that changed the pace of the game and led the Huskies to a touchdown to take a 24-6 lead.
 
Werner found freshman Kellen Williams (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) wide open in the back corner of the end zone for Williams' first touchdown catch of the season to draw the score to 24-12 with 3:36 to play. In a formation that placed offensive linemen out towards the sidelines to open up the middle, Werner attempted to rush in for the two-point conversion but was stopped short on a vicious hit that knocked Werner's helmet off on the play.
 
Kutztown's failed onside kick gave the Huskies great field position once again, which led to a 28-yard run by Quiteh to close the scoring at 31-12 with 2:13 to play.
 
Golden Bear fans poured into University Field on Saturday for the team's latest home opener since 1995. With the steady improvement the team has already shown through the first three weeks of the season, expect for a highly competitive game the next time Kutztown returns home on Oct. 5 to face Slippery Rock.
 
Looking ahead to next week, Kutztown travels to West Chester for its first night game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. Kutztown fell at home to the Golden Rams last season, 45-24. Bloomsburg returns home to face Lock Haven at 3:30 p.m.